When Your Life Feels Lost
by QueenBeeComplex
Summary: Part 4 of the FANGS series. Takes place before Worth The Price To Live. Sandra left just over two weeks ago on a mission into the underground trafficking system specializing in empowered beings. Her emergency escape plan has resurfaced - draped around the shoulders of a man who's rapidly bleeding out on the floor of Jinxx's study.
1. Part 1

Jinxx glanced up in slight alarm at the pounding on his study door. A pounding coming from the INSIDE of his study.

"Whomever it is tell them unless someone is dead it can wait until morning," Sammi groused into her pillow.

Jinxx placed a soft kiss to his beloved's temple and slid from the bed, lightly tucking a bluebird feather into the page of his book. "Custom is to send a warning before arriving in someone's study," Jinxx called through the crack in the door. He pressed his ear to the ancient wood and listened.

"Help...me..." came a gutteral rasp.

Jinxx thinned himself to air and walked through the still locked door.

A man - he at least looked to be a man - was curled in a tight ball on the floor of the old study. Clouds of black energy bounced and swirled around him. And there was blood. There was blood everywhere. Blood, Jinxx realized, that couldn't possibly all belong to the man.

Then he saw it. Wrapped loosely around the man's shoulders was the silvery bit of fabric that explained how this man got here. It was the enchanted, use-only-in-emergency cloak he'd given Sandra before she went on her last mission. It had enough magic to transport one person back into his study, no matter where from.

He'd meant for it to be a last-ditch escape in the event Sandra was captured. The half blood, it seemed, had other ideas.

"I'm going to kill Sandra," Jinxx swore under his breath.

"N-n-n-no!"

It was the first real noise the man had made. His voice was surprisingly deep. But then, Jinxx thought, he never understood how the impossibly thin had such impossibly deep voices.

"D-d-don't! It-it-it's my-y-y-y fa-a-aul-lt-t."

Jinxx tilted his head to one side. "What's your fault," he asked in a soft yet stern voice.

Wide, deep brown eyes stared back in shock. "Th-the-e e-es-sca-a-ape!"

Jinxx smiled softly. "No, no. That wasn't your fault."

"D-do-on't hu-urt h-er-er."

"Nah, kid. I don't make a habit of hurting people. Sandra was just doing her job."

"N-no! It-it was a-all me-e-e!"

The Mystic let out a sigh. "Sammi? Love? Could you give me a hand?" He kept his eyes trained carefully on the visitor. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Jinxx. I'm a Mystic. Sandra sent you here, to me. So I can help you."

"M-myst-tic?"

"You're in Majik territory. You're safe."

The man stared back in silence, the shaking beginning to ebb. "Wh-where's Sandra?"

The name was the first word he'd managed to say without a stutter.

A sadness flickered through the Mystic's golden eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know. The cloak around your shoulders was her escape plan. If she used it on you, well. I've seen that little half blood right her way out of shit that flattened the rest of us. I'm sure she'll find her way out."

Fear flickered in chocolate brown eyes. "B-but she-"

"Is one of the toughest people I know. And I have known her for over a decade."

The man nodded a bit. His eyes closed, as if to summon his strength, then he pushed himself to sitting with one hand, the other pressing still swirling black magic against his rib cage.

"What's your name, kid?"

"I uh. I don't know. You can call me CC. That's what the others called me..."

Jinxx nodded in understanding. "Alright, CC. Will you let me see what's going on there?" He pointed towards the man's ribs.

With a shaking hand, CC carefully withdrew his magic. The silvery hilt of a dagger protruded from his side.

Jinxx reached a steady hand forward. He paused over the hilt, looking into the man's eyes for permission. After a soft nod, he continued, one hand grazing blood slick skin, the other holding the dagger steady. "You're gonna wanna lay back down."

Dark eyebrows furrowed together in question.

"The knife hasn't hit any major organs or blood vessles. I can heat the metal as I pull it out, and it will cauterize the wound. Should keep you from bleeding out until we can get you to our healers."

CC nodded and took Jinxx's offered hand, clinging to it for support as he leaned back down against the wood floor.

"I'm not going to lie. This will hurt."

CC nodded.

"Alright. One. Two. Three!"

A scream echoed off wood and stone walls as Jinxx wrapped a flaming hand around the hilt of the dagger. The metal slowly began to glow, an awful sizzling sound, and the smell of burning blood issued from the wound. Jinxx slowly pulled the blade out, carefully watching for any sign of blood flow. CC just screamed in pain, then he promptly blacked out.


	2. Part 2

Andy shot up out of bed. In a practiced move, he flicked on his bedside lamp with one hand and grabbed for his vision journal with the other. Then he started scribbling as fast as his pen would move.

"Fuck." The prophet threw his pen across the room with far more venom than was strictly necessary. "Fuck damnit shit fuck!"

"Shudup!" Ashley groaned.

"Get up!" Andy was moving now. He jumpped up out of the bed and started pulling on the first pair of pants he got his hands on.

"Andyyy!" The vampire covered his head with a pillow.

"Come on. Get dressed. I need you to fly me to Jinxx's place."

Ashley rolled over and sat up just in time to get a pair of folded jeans to the face. "Andy, it's three in the fucking morning."

"I know." Andy pulled a t shirt over his head. "It's important. Let's go!"

The bassist sighed and rolled off the bed, starting to pull the pants on. "Jinxx probably isn't even awake."

"He is. Sammi too. Oh, and we need to alert a Mystic healer on our way."

"How do we even-"

Andy held up an already sealed envelope. "Just gotta drop it off at the healing house. It's heavy enough it should trip their wards."

Ashley let out a sharp huff. "Wanna tell me what's so important we have to go out at three in the morning?" He pulled on the leather vest he preferred for flying.

"Yeah there's a dying empowered being in Jinxx's study. Come on!"

The vampire shook his head in bewilderment as he headed down the hall towards the balcony behind his mate.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" Sammi called down the entrance hall of her house. Despite her insistence, there was another rushed pounding on the door. She finally got to it, flinging it open to reveal Ashley and Andy.

"We would have just come through the balcony but last time we did that Jinxx said more swear words in a minute than there are seconds, so-"

"Oh just get your asses in here," Sammi cut the vampire off, motioning towards the stairs with her head. "They're in the study. Come on." She led them through the house to the ornately carved wooden doors, which she lightly knocked on. "Visitors," she called before swinging the door open.

Jinxx breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the pair. "Vision?"

"Yep," Andy responded. "Is he stable?"

"Barely."

Ashley knelt down to look at the limp body in Jinxx's arms. Then his nose crinkled. "Ugh he smells disgusting."

"Well there's no telling where Sandra sent him from," Jinxx retorted.

The vampire rolled his eyes. "Fine, he smells inedible."

Sammi raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so not an empowered human."

"Not necessarily," Andy cut in. "Mystics and Luminescents aren't palatable to vampires, and you guys aren't human. And there are many empowered humans who aren palatable to vampires. Myself, for example."

There was another knock at the door that distracted the company. Sammi and Jinxx both wore confused expressions.

"Oh, I dropped a rather heavy package off at the healers' mansion on the way here," Andy explained. He leaned against the wall, eyes taking in every detail of the scene.

"Oh. Well thanks. Saves me a trip." The guitarist nodded with his words.

Andy just nodded in response. He leaned closer to the door, listening down the hall. And then he noticed something. "Where's Sandra's cloak?"

Jinxx narrowed his eyebrows. "It's right he-" The cloak was gone. "I guess my magic consumed it."

"That can happen?" Ashley asked. He was quickly working his fingers across the unconscious man's scars, making note of depth and how old each one must have been.

"Sometimes," Jinxx shrugged. "I imbued an object with very powerful magic. It would make sense for the magic to cause the object's destruction. Especially if it wasn't intended to handle such power in the first place."

Ashley let out a sudden, piercing scream.

It wasn't the sound, but the phantom of searing pain across his fingertips that made Andy hiss and flinch back a bit.

"What happened?" Jinxx demanded at the same time Andy called "Ash!"

The vampire toppled over sideways, fingertips burnt black, and blood that wasn't his own staining the unburnt skin. He balled up and moaned in pain.

"Poison," Andy murmured, grabbing for Ashley's wrist. "Someone pumped the poor kid full of vampire poison. It won't harm us but-"

"Any vampire who touches his blood will be badly wounded," cut in a deep, authoritative voice.

"Elder Tomas," Jinxx greeted with a slight bow of his head.

"Mister Ferguson."

The guitarist winced, but for once, didn't argue the name. "He's stable enough to move manually."

The elder nodded. "I'll have the boys come up with the stretcher, then. Mind telling me what happened?"

Jinxx cleared his throat. "I don't actually know, sir. He came via a cloak I enchanted as an escape plan. The halfblood vampiress I've mentioned working with? She went into the thick of things. I couldn't convince her not to go, but I was able to send her with something that would help. It appears she used it on him rather than herself."

"No!" Ashley whispered.

"This halfblood? You've not heard from her?" Elder Tomas was a rather pragmatic sort.

"No, sir. Not since she left on the 8th."

The old mystic nodded, stepping aside as two boys - teenagers - appeared at the top of the stairs with a stretcher. "Well, in sorry to say there's nothing we can do for her. At least not until we question the man she sent back in her stead."

Ashley's eyes widened. "But-"

"She made her decision, Deviant. She knows the laws. She knew what she was doing."

"That's my cousin!" Ashley tried to prop himself up on his injured hand and let out another cry of pain.

"Know your place, vampire, or we can give you no aid."

Ashley opened his mouth to speak again, but was silenced by Jinxx's hand on his shoulder. "Then we should get back to the healers' mansion as soon as possible," the Mystic insisted.

The Elder nodded and stood outside the doorway, waiting on everyone to file out before him.


	3. Part 3

"So, what do you think?" Andy settled into the chair beside Ashley's bed, slightly nodding towards the man they now knew as CC.

The vampire tilted his head side to side. "Not sure. He smells a bit more edible now. But who knows how much poison was in his bloodstream."

Andy shrugged. "I suppose we won't really know until they're done filtering his blood."

"Or perhaps he just isn't palatable. I mean, Jake isn't palatable. He tastes like rotting fish."

The human raised an eyebrow. "And when would you have had the opportunity to find out?"

"Oh, years ago. Shortly after he joined the band. He'd cut himself. Not knowing he wasn't palatable, he offered." Ashley shuddered. "Never again."

Andy chuckled lightly. "But I'm palatable. So is Jinxx."

The vampire wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, sure, Jinxx probably doesn't taste bad. But there's a reason vampires don't feed on Mystics."

"What's that?"

"Side effects. Really weird ones too, man. I'm talking catching on fire, phasing through the ground and getting stuck, liquifying. I saw a rogue once drink Mystic and the flesh just melted off his arm. Left his bones in tact, but all the skin, muscle, everything just a puddle in the dirt."

Andy hummed in curiosity, tucking the information away to research later.

"I've always wondered something," Ashley started, changing the subject.

"Hmm?"

"How come there aren't more of you?"

Andy scoffed. "Yeah I think mama bit off more than she could chew with just me. She didn't want another terror running around."

There was a light chuckle from the bassist. "No, I meant why aren't there more, you know, Prophets?"

"Oh..." Andy was silent a long moment. "Well, they're dead."

"But I thought they lived until the last of their generation had passed?"

Andy shook his head. "Not if they're killed."

"What do you mean?"

The Prophet sighed. "Hold on..." He stood and disappeared through the doors of the infirmary.

Ashley stared at the other person in the room with him. He was still unconscious, but his body had been restored. At least, as much as the Mystics could manage. A lot of those deeper scars would never heal. He wondered absently if the poor kid would ever live a normal life again.

"Here," Andy huffed, dropping back into the chair with a rather large book in his arms. He opened it up at the back, running his finger up what looked like a list from the bottom of the page. "Right here. A Japanese girl, Kimiko, came online at about 10 in 1933. She died in the Hiroshima blast in 1945. In 1942 a boy called Rohin came online, age 8. He was killed by, ah, religious radicals who believed he was a demon spewing false prophesy. The Mystic responsible for him was killed too. Then Salehe came online in '72. Then I came online in 2003."

Ashley nodded slowly. "So they were just killed?"

The Prophet sighed and nodded. "War is war. And it is everywhere. Don't get me wrong - the Majiks work very hard to protect us. There are just some things that are unavoidable."

There was a sadness in Andy's eyes that Ashley had never noticed before. He'd never stopped to consider the weight of the gift his mate carried. Apparently it was rather heavy on his heart. "I'm going to keep you safe," Ashley murmured, stroking the back of the singer's hand with the thumb that hadn't been burned away by the poison.

Andy nodded. "I know." The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile and he leaned over the edge of the bed to collect a soft kiss.

"Oi, lovebirds!"

Both men jumpped, turning to glare at their band mate with questioning looks.

"I think I've got an idea where Sandra is. Ash, how's your hand?"

The vampire wiggled his fingers, sinew having started growing back around the burnt flesh. "I can make do."

"Ashley!"

"Sandra's family."

Andy sighed. "Stupid Deviant protectiveness will get you killed one day." He pulled Ashley in for a kiss. "Go. I'll be here, I guess."

"I called Jake," Jinxx commented. "He came out of the same place the new kid did. He should be able to help."

Andy nodded. "Gotcha. Well, I'll be in the library then. I can get some research done at the least. Maybe find out what our new friend here is."

The vampire and the mystic both nodded after him.

"Oh, and please be careful. I don't have the energy to replace half my band." With that, Andy slammed the door shut behind him.


	4. Part 4

"You need anything?"

The Mourner blinked back at Andy for a long moment, eyes unfocused. He hated any kind of hospital. They were always filled with lost souls. Sure, the Mystic infirmary was warded against the worst of it but there were still far more voices crawling at the inside of his mind than usual. "A table. For my cards."

Andy nodded even though he knew Jake wouldn't notice. "You got it, man. I'll have somebody bring you that gross tea that helps."

"Mmmh don't. I wanna see what the spirits have to say." The Mourner settled himself into the chair next to the injured man's bed, reaching into his back pocket in the process. He unwrapped the pentacle printed bandana from around his deck of tarot cards and began shuffling.

Andy reappeared a few moments later, setting a small fold up table in front of his band mate.

"Thanks," he murmured softly, spreading the bandana over the surface and beginning to lay his cards.

Jake rolled his eyes. Reverse Death card, of course, and accompanied by Reverse Temperance. He glanced in surprise. An upright 8 of Cups. Cards referring to change were uncommon when dealing with the dead.

Queen of Swords. It was a card he'd come to associate with Luminescents over the years. Followed by a Page of Wands. Query for information.

Jake sighed, but gave a slight nod. He picked up the cards and shuffled.

Three of swords, upright. Heartbreak.

The woman materialized before him. A worn silk cloth wrapped around her shoulders. From her neck dangled the overlapping stars that symbolized her as a healer. Wisps of gray hair floated around her round, wrinkled faced, framing warm brown eyes.

"You're heartbroken?"

The woman offered a gentle smile, but shook her head no. Just as Jake opened his mouth to speak, she pointed at him.

"You think I'm heartbroken?"

She nodded and tapped the table.

Jake shuffled and flipped the next card. Reversed Sun.

"You think I'm lonely?"

She shook her head.

"Then...a broken union?"

She nodded.

Jake snorted. "There kinda has to be a union for one to be broken."

The woman gave a knowing look and tapped the table.

Nine of Swords, Upright.

"Nightmares?"

The woman nodded encouragingly.

Jake thought for a long moment. It had been a while since his last nightmare. But it had been of that place. They were always of that place. "Not recently," he stated.

The woman huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh...you mean what's in the nightmares?"

She nodded, then tapped the table.

Death. Upright.

Jake's eyes darkened. "How could you know?"

She lifted both hands, light and dark magic arching over her head to combine in the middle.

"Right." Jake sighed. Luminescents' ability to control light and dark often meant they could see the proverbial cloud of death when it followed someone.

She tapped the table.

Knight of Cups. Upright.

"That's not possible."

The woman raised her eyebrows.

"He's dead."

She tapped the table.

The Fool.

"You're calling me a fool?"

She nodded.

"I'm not a fool!" Jake insisted.

Pursed lips, and another raised eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe. But he's dead. I saw them sta-"

The woman tapped the table, this time with enough force to actually shake it a bit.

Wheel of Fortune. Upright.

"Chance?"

She nodded.

"Are you telling me he's not dead?"

She shrugged and tapped the table.

Ace of Swords.

"I would know if he were dead." A statement, nor a question.

The woman nodded anyways.

"But I saw them!"

She shook her head.

"Who are you to even know these things?" There was anger in his demand.

The woman pointed to a portrait on the wall beside the infirmary door. It was an old oil painting. One of herself.

"You're Matron Gar?"

She nodded.

Jake sagged in his chair in defeat. "Very well." He picked up his cards and began the 21 bridge shuffle he preferred.


	5. Part 5

"Are you sure about this, man?"

Jinxx nodded, but held a finger over his lips.

Ashley huffed, then resigned himself to looking through the sightseeing scope at the top of the skyscraper. His eyes traced over the back entrance of an old, historical mansion.

"This is ridiculous. That family has always been respectable."

The Mystic snorted. "You assume it is the family running the operation. Idiot."

"Hey!"

"Look man, I'm just saying," Jinxx went on. "As long as there have been old, wealthy families, there have been lower class workers who have served them just as long."

"So you think it's a servant?" Ashley tilted his head to one side in consideration.

"Trust me, man. By this generation, the family likely would only occupy maybe 10% of that house. It's the servants who know the halls, tunnels, passageways, and basement like the backs of their hands."

"Yeah, okay," Ashley conceded. "So now what?"

Jinxx pulled some rope out of his pocket and started tying his wrists. "Now we bribe our way in."

Ashley's eyes darkened. "Jinxx, man, no. I'm not selling you out like that."

The Mystic laughed. "Of course not. You're going in to find me a bride. Think about it. Pure blooded vampire high line walks in with a Mystic. He's looking to breed his slave."

The thought made Ashley's skin crawl. "We can't even be sure Sandra will be in the same place they keep Luminescents."

Jinxx smirked. "Perhaps not. But most of Sandra's research suggests they keep all the women in about the same place so long as they are of age, and not with child."

Ashley sighed. "Alright. But if we're gonna do this, I'm not gonna look so incompetent as to bind a Mystic with rope. I think there are some, ah, family heirlooms of my grandmother's that would be more appropriate.

A few hours later, Jinxx had been fitted into a silver collar set with rubies, and matching cuff style bracelets. Ashley had also insisted he wear the simple cotton pants and shirt that noted him as a servant.

"Why no chains?"

Ashley sighed. "No need. They're magic. Only I can take them off of you. Or Andy, as he's my mate. Look at me."

Jinxx looked up against his will. He winced a little.

"Okay here's the deal. You have permission to use your magic at any time. I trust your judgement on when it's appropriate. If anything happens to me in there, you are to leave, immediately, go to Andy, and tell him to remove the chains. Okay?"

"Yes, Master."

Ashley closed his eyes, tight, and swallowed hard. "Oh gods I'm gonna hate that."

"Just remember we're doing this for Sandra."

Ashley nodded slowly. "Doesn't mean I have to like it. However, there is an air of romance to the set. Might have a more benign set made up for Andy."

"Oh, gross!" Jinxx wrinkled his nose. "Just because Andy is my charge doesn't mean I need to know the sexual parts of his relationship with you. Ugh!"

The Vampire let out a warm, musical laugh. "Come on, man, let's just go find my cousin and then get you out of those things."

"The name's Purdy."

A clean shaven, rather beautiful blond man nodded, eyeing the bassist skeptically. "Deviant high line. Didn't realize your people still kept servants."

Ashley smiled lopsidedly. "Ma was Orion before she mated my father. This here's one of Gramma's finest specimen. She wants to breed him, but you see, she's too old to go roaming potentially dangerous underground markets. So she sent me. Says it's her money that does the talking anyway."

The kid nodded with an equally unsteadying smile. "Well, come on in to the sitting room," he responded, pocketing the century old silver coins Ashley had passed him. "I'll inform my Pa you'd like an audience.

The two men followed the blond through a false wall and down into an ornate sitting room. Ashley flopped into the chaise, kicking his legs up and crossing at the ankles as he rested an arm across the back. "Kneel, J," he said in a soft, but empty voice.

Jinxx knelt beside the chaise, feet tucked under him, hands folded at his lower back, and chin resting on his chest.

In an attempt to comfort his friend, Ashley grabbed the back of Jinxx's neck, stroking softly at the fine hairs. To an outsider it would appear possessive. But Jinxx knew it was reassuring, and leaned back into the touch, almost imperceptibly.

"Your mystic is very obedient."

Ashley looked up into the steel gray eyes of a rather old man, dressed in simple yet perfectly cleaned and pressed clothes.

With a half smile, Ashley responded, "Yes, well, J here has been with me since I was a child. Old family tradition, you see? Give a child a playmate who will serve them all their days. My mate and I think we will begin forming soon. That's if the urges are anything to go by. And my generation has no girls. So here we are, in search of a bride for my J so my kids might grow up with the same fortune I did."

"An age old tradition," the man responded with a hearty smile. "And one I didn't know still thrived. I'm certainly proud to see it still going, from such a noble old family, too." He held out a hand for Ashley to shake. "Fortiscue, at your service."

"Purdy," Ashley responded, giving the proffered had a brisk shake.

"Excellent, m'boy. Right this way, I'll show you to some rooms you can keep while we arrange for our eligible brides to be brought out for your viewing."

"If you don't mind, sir," Ashley began, rising to his feet, "I'd rather see them where they sleep. Gramma always stressed the importance of allowing the servants to choose their mates. Apparently the practice yields stronger offspring."

Fortiscue nodded in understanding. "Of course. But it will still take a few days for us to organize our assets. I'm sure you'll find the arrangements pleasing."

Ashley only nodded. "Come along, J," he ordered.

"Oh no, he can stay in the servants' quarters."

"No. I'll keep him with me, thanks. I've never been without him at least in the next room."

Finally, Ashley and Jinxx were let into a rather lavish bedchamber. As soon as the door was closed, Ashley was reaching to remove the cuffs from his friend's wrists.

"They're not so bad, really."

"Shut it," Ashley growled, unlatching the collar. "I don't like this."

Jinxx raised his eyebrows. "Really? It seems to come so naturally to you."

Ashley shrugged. "You know enough about my childhood to know why I don't practice any of the old traditions."

Jinxx just nodded and dropped onto the bed. "Nothing to do now but wait."

Ashley nodded. Then he reached for his phone and dialed his mate. Three days without holding his beloved was already getting to be too long."


	6. Part 6

Andy bolted awake. Ashley had been gone a week, so he'd taken to sleeping in the library. That way, at least when he woke up from a vision, his research materials were at his fingertips. He grabbed his journal and started writing.

"Ashley, I swear to all the gods, when you get back here, I will kill you."

"Is everything alright, sir?"

Andy sighed. This right here was why he tried to avoid full Majik custody. He hated being treated like a child.

"Yeah, fine."

"Is there anything we can get you?"

The singer glanced up. "Wow, there are a lot of you," he sighed.

"We're sorry, sir. We were told to make sure you had everything you need," a boy, about 10, answered.

11, 12, 13, 14 of them. Was peace and quite too much to ask for?

"Well, what I need is to be left the hell alone!"

Wow, Andy really needed to work on that anger. But he hated it when visions ended abruptly, breaking his sleep. And he hated questions when he was trying to organize his thoughts enough to get the vision on paper. And he especially hated waking up without Ashley beside him, arm snaking across his waist and face nuzzled into the small of his back while he wrote without the vampire even waking.

"Our apologies, sir," one of the older girls insisted, nodding her head before shepherding the others out of the library.

Andy sighed, shook his head to clear it, and returned pen to paper.

Visions of his band mates always left Andy a little shaken up. Ones that flashed through a series of images too quick even to process made his head spin. The combination of the two just left the Prophet downright irritable.

 _Ashley clasping silver and ruby shackles around Jinxx's wrists._

 _Jinxx kneeling at Ashley's feet._

 _Sandra tied to an X shaped post, back laced with shallow cuts._

 _Jinxx clinging to a dark haired girl with eerily familiar blue eyes._

 _The busty blonde Andy recognized as Ashley's ex-girlfriend wrapping around his vampire possessively, giggling and planting kisses on his cheeks._

 _Sandra collapsed across the lap of that same girl._

 _Ashley being dragged out of a tunnel by Sandra and Jinxx, followed close behind by the blonde and the dark haired girl._

 _Blackness._

 _A much younger Jake curled around an impossibly skinny boy and singing softly._

 _Jake being ripped off the ground and thrown against a wooden X._

 _Big, scared brown eyes. Someone screaming "NO!"_

 _Sandra's voice insisting she'll come back as she half carries Jake from a dark room._

 _A silver knife spiraling through the air and embedding between ribs._

 _A flaming hand on the hilt of a dagger._

 _Jake's head tilted back as someone with a mess of black hair kisses down his throat._

 _Blackness._

 _Then the only lasting image. Jake hovering over the infirmary bed of the new kid. The blonde sitting on the edge of a similar bed where Sandra is laying, bruised, bloody, unconscious. Jinxx sitting up in another bed, hand on Sammi's shoulder as she clings to the hand of the girl in the next bed. Ashley unconscious in the bed Andy can feel pressed against his thighs. Ashley's hand in his, not squeezing back. Everyone Andy has ever loved, flattened. Beaten. Bruised. Broken. Nothing he can do to stop it._

Andy took a few slow, deep breaths, hoping to still his pounding heart. He didn't realize there were tears falling down his face until one hit his page, smearing the ink. He huffed in frustration and wiped the back of his hand across his face, smearing ink into tears across his skin. He dried the page with the corner of his shirt and redrew the smudged character.

He swallowed hard and kept writing, holding out a hand to summon a book on vampire genealogy. The heavy, leather bound volume landed solidly in the palm of his hand. He almost dropped it.

"Voltair. Voltair. Voltaire." he whispered to himself over and over. He got to the last page with no results.

"Wrong volume!" he growled, throwing the book across the room. The magic of the library caught it before it could hit the ground and returned it to the shelf, simultaneously sending the next volume flying across the room. This one missed Andy's hand and fell hard against his thigh. He wondered if the library was as angry with him as he was with it. Its sentience pissed Andy off.

He thumbed through the next book then tossed it aside as well. Finally, three books later, he found the Voltair high line. He flipped to the end of the genealogy.

"Kina." Andy wrinkled his nose at the name. She was just Ashley's type. It kind of made him sick. "Not mated?"

For some reason, that information was disconcerting to him. He wasn't sure if it was that she was all over him in the vision, or that she was still single. The way she clung to Sandra was uncomfortable as well. To his knowledge, Sandra and Kina had never met in person.

But there was a familiarity to how Kina had been wrapped around Sandra's unconscious form in his vision. He knew that look she wore. It was how Ashley looked at him when he came to from a bad vision. Especially when it was the waking visions that eventually caused Andy to black out and collapse on the spot.

It was the way a Vampire holds an Intended.

He didn't like it. He was absolutely not okay with Sandra, his sister at heart, mating to Ashley's whore of an ex.

Andy knew he really shouldn't refer to Kina as such. He knew she was there for Ashley through some seriously bad stuff. Though Andy couldn't shake the fact that Ashley had been with her even after he knew Andy was to be his mate.

The singer threw the book back at the library, followed by his pen and journal. The book was returned soundly to the shelf. The annoying sentience of the library threw his journal and pen back at him.

Andy sighed, shoved the book to the floor, and laid back down, hoping to maybe get a few more hours of sleep before sunset.


	7. Part 7

"Hey, KiKi? I need a favor."

The blonde sighed. "What kind of favor, Ashley?" There was a soft rustling as Kina adjusted her phone at her ear.

"How soon can you get to the LaRoux mansion?"

Ashley winced and held the phone away from his ear. He had forgotten just how loudly and passionately his childhood sweetheart could swear. And in how many languages. Well, there's a reason she went into porn as a profession.

Finally, at the end of her impassioned swearing, the Voltaire princess asked, "What in the actual fuck are you doing in a slave den?"

Ashley's brow crinkled. "How did you know?"

Kina scoffed. "I'm of royal blood, remember? Some members of my family still keep slaves. Just because I told my grandfather where to shove it doesn't make me not a Voltaire."

The bassist winced at the venom in her voice. "They have Sandra."

Kina let out another extended breath of passionate swearing. Though she hadn't seen Sandra since they were children, she still considered the little half blood to be family. Especially since she WAS Ashley's family, and Ashley was her family. Sure, they'd dated, pretty seriously for about a year. Kina had wanted to appease her family with a formal courtship. Ashley was in denial about a cute little human singer. But they were never meant to be, and they both knew it. That didn't make their close friendship any less real.

"Ki, I need you to come pretend to be my mate. So I can get in and find her."

She sighed. "Alright. Fill me in on the way?"

Ashley heard the sound of a zipper, and then of wings unfurling. "No problem."

"Master, there is someone here for you," Jinxx called.

Ashley winced. "Come on, J." He lightly clapped a hand to Jinxx's shoulder as he slipped from the bedchambers and trailed down the hall towards the sitting room. "Kiki?" he called.

There was a high squeal and a giggle, then long limbs were winding around Ashley's body as the blonde threw herself into his arms. "Ashes! You've been gone forever!" She captured his lips in a slow, deep kiss.

Ashley clenched his eyes shut as he kissed back. A spark of guilt swelled in his stomach. He reminded himself this was for Sandra. "There's my princess," Ashley cooed back. That, at least, was a statement of genuine affection. He did still adore Kina.

"I'm sorry I couldn't wait any longer for you. I need..." Kina's eyes cast down, heavy lidded, as a blush rose to her cheeks.

The bassist brushed his fingers through her long, soft hair. "I know, baby," he whispered against her lips, pulling her in for another kiss.

"Hem hem."

Ashley looked up, keeping a hand on Kina's waist as she let her legs down to stand on her own feet.

Fortiscue was lingering in the hall outside his study. "There are bedchambers for such displays. I suggest you use them."

Kina giggled and tucked herself half behind, half beside Ashley, arm wrapped around his, chin resting on his shoulder as she left soft kisses on his cheek. Her six inch heels left her a bit taller than Ashley.

"My apologies. I didn't know she would be coming, but this has taken longer than I anticipated."

Fortiscue nodded and waved his hand at them in dismissal.

"J, let's go," Kina chattered, grabbing the Mystic by the wrist and pulling him along behind them. Her lilting giggle filled the hall as the three proceeded back to the bedchambers.

"Now what?" Jinxx asked, pulling his wrist from Kina's grip.

Ashley and Kina both winced.

"Sorry. My family is known for being...physical with our slaves. And I dropped names to get in here."

Jinxx just gave her a soft smile. "I know. Nice to see you again, by the way."

The blonde winced. "I wish it were under different circumstances, though. I hate this place."

"Join the club," Ashley groused.

There was a long silence, and then, "Aren't we supposed to be having sex?"

Ashley groaned. "I'm a mated man."

Kina scoffed. "Yeah, as if I'd ever actually fuck you again. We can pretend, dumbass."

"I'll just wait outside." Jinxx turned on a heel and slipped out into the hall. He closed the door, then dropped into a cross legged position in front of it.

He had forgotten Kina was a porn star. The moans coming from the room, though fake, were pretty convincing. If he didn't know what Ashley actually sounded like during sex, he wouldn't know the difference.

The Mystic settled for flickering fire between his fingertips to stay occupied. He wondered what his Sammi was up to, now. Would she have gone back to the house, or stayed at the healers' mansion with Andy and Jake? He found that being away from her was especially disconcerting recently, though he didn't know why.

"Servants aren't to use magic on the residential floor."

Jinxx looked up, extinguishing his fire. "I'm sorry, sir."

The young man glared down at him. "How are you even able to use magic?"

The Mystic winced. "My magic is unrestricted when Mistress Kina is around. There was an incident some time ago. Master Ashley's brother lost his mate. Since then, he's been especially protective of Mistress Kina. So I have magic when she is around, so I can protect her."

"And you do that? You protect her?"

Jinxx smiled. "Of course. She's been nothing but kind to me. She makes Master Ashley happy." He shrugged. "Why wouldn't I want her safe?"

The blond shrugged. "She's Voltaire. They're notoriously cruel."

Jinxx gave a lopsided grin and shook his head. "Not Mistress Kina. She's very nice. I think that's why Master Ashley fell in love with her. She's kind to everyone. Master Ashley puts a lot of importance on kindness."

The young man hummed thoughtfully, and then his thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like a wail of delight. "Are they always that enthusiastic?"

Jinxx chuckled. "Oh, that's nothing. Give it about an hour, the whole room will be shaking."

He raised an eyebrow. "That so?"

A laugh and a nod, then Jinxx responded, "I just hope they don't decide to fuck against the door. I hate it when they do that. I'm not really allowed to leave this spot."

The blond nodded in understanding. "Well, alright. I should get going. No magic in the corridors!" And with that, he skipped off.


	8. Part 8

Sandra groaned in pain as strong hands wrapped around her arms, jerking her to a standing position. The movements caused the scabs down her back to split open, blood trickling over her skin into the lining of her jeans.

"Maybe you'll be more willing to talk this time around, bitch," one of the men holding her spat as he wrapped the leather ties around her wrists. She felt the hard press of wood against her sternum. Her lips remained pointedly pursed.

A man, tall, white hair, gray eyes, pressed suit, approached. "Since it seems Donnie was unable to get any information out of you, I'll just have to take on the task of your interrogation, myself." The man leaned over to speak directly to Sandra. His fingertips deftly traced over one of the split scabs on Sandra's shoulder. He brought the bloodied finger to his lips.

Sandra just spat at his feet.

A disgruntled expression crossed the torturer's face as he stepped back. He blindly reached out to one side and picked a peculiar looking whip off the table of torture devices.

Sandra eyed the weapon, deciding how far she would need to dissociate to not feel its effects.

"Had this specially made up for you. Took an old cat o' nine tails and had some birch wood woven into it, since the switch clearly wasn't working.

The Vampiress closed her eyes and allowed her head to drop to her chest. She slowly went through the process of allowing her body to relax, head to toe. Distantly, she could feel the leather straps digging into her wrists and ankles. She could feel the birch wood X stinging her bare chest. She didn't care. Nothing mattered except keeping her family safe.

"Where is he?"

Sandra said nothing. White hot pain laced across her back as the wood tipped leather made contact

with her skin. She clenched her teeth and winced, but otherwise didn't react.

"He was one of my most valuable assets. Where did you send him?"

Again, Sandra remained silent. The whip found her skin two more times. Her toes curled and her fists clenched, muscles tensing. She kept her lips pursed, refusing to give him the satisfaction of even a whimper in pain.

The man paused a moment to look at her, then pressed his thumb into a deep cut. "I will get my answer out of you."

Sandra bit down on her lip to hold back a cry of pain. "No, you won't," she gasped.

There was a high, cold laugh as the man released Sandra's wounds and then swung the whip again.

Sandra's breath hitched in her throat. She tried to think about something, anything, that wasn't the torture of her surroundings. Her mind finally settled on the drum routine for Beautiful Remains. At the least, the complexity blocked out the worst of the pain. Her wrists and ankles flicked according to the drum beats. It was something.

An abrupt thud pulled her out of her reverie. Then an intoxicating smell hit her like a wave. Sandra had never wanted something so much as she wanted to bask in that scent.

The fog of dissociation finally cleared from Sandra's eyes to reveal the dainty pointed nose and long, fine blonde hair of someone she hadn't seen in almost a decade. At age 16, Kina had told the Voltair King precisely what he could do with his twisted, old fashioned traditions, then been promptly shipped off to a Canidae boarding school in Finland. She distantly wondered if she was hallucinating

Then there were soft hands on her wrist, unbuckling the leather stap while cautiously avoiding contact with the wooden X. Soft hair trailed across her back, and Sandra was consumed by the smell of shae butter, rose, mint, and blood. She moaned, not sure if in pain or want, as the arms of the girl she'd always loved wrapped around her waist and carefully pulled her away from the poisonous wood.

Everywhere Kina touched her seemed to surge with electricity. This couldn't be happening. Ashley and Andy would never forgive her if she fell for Kina. There was so much history between them. And no way in all the hells would the Voltair council approve their union.

Sandra pushed the feelings as deep as she could and began taking inventory of her wounds. If she knew how bad they were, she could instruct someone on how to treat them.

The jostling of movement as Kina half carried her away caused the scars to break and bleed even more. Sandra was sure if she lost much more blood she would black out. Already, small black spots were swimming in her line of sight. It was only a matter of time.

She thought she saw Ashley somewhere in the distance. And she could smell the musk of the Mystic. There was someone who kinda smelled like Sammi but also didn't. Then blackness had taken over and Sandra couldn't think anymore. She could only embrace the relief of unconsciousness.


	9. Part 9

Jake sighed at Matron Gar. He was getting irritated with her. Unfortunately, she was the most interesting person to talk to, and after a week of hearing the complaints of the other dead, the Mourner had finally given in to her continuous requests for conversation.

"Fine. Whatever. You win. He's not dead and my happy ending is out there somewhere."

Matron Gar tapped the table. Jake flipped a card. The Sun.

"All will be well." He sighed and leveled a quizzical gaze.

She smiled back.

"You know, I've had enough of these riddles." Jake scooped up his cards, wrapped them in their cloth, and slipped them into his pocket. He was getting really tired of the matron's rather cryptic advice.

He knew nothing was exact when it came to the cards. He was just accustomed to them being used to communicate past events. Most spirits wanted to tell their stories. Many had requests for their regrets or admirations to be passed to loved ones. Some came with pleas for justice.

Centuries-dead spirits rarely wished to sit and chat about his love life. And while he knew spirits could see things he couldn't, especially the spirits of Mystics and Luminescents, they rarely felt the need to point them out.

A low whimper pulled Jake out of his thoughts. He whipped around in search of the source of the sound. CC was curling in on himself in his bed, body shaking and tears staining his cheeks.

"Hey, hey," Jake murmured softly. He reached out to brush tangled black hair from the younger man's pale skin. "Hey you're alright. You're safe, now."

As he stroked CC's hair line, Jake began to hum. It was an old luluby. So old, he wasn't even sure of the name. But he had learned it when he was a slave. The women used to sing it as they worked, taught it to the children. They would use it as a point of reference when nursing the ill or injured. The notes were low and deep, with mellow variance and a rhythm like a porch swing.

CC's eyes slowly opened, one wide, the other hindered by swelling and bruising. A single warm, brown orb gazed back, recognition flickering through them. "Jacob?"

Jake swallowed. "Christian?"

The man shook his head. "I...don't know my name. I-"

Jake shushed him and brushed a finger over his cheek. "I would know those eyes anywhere."

"I thought I kept hearing your voice..." His eyebrows wrinkled together, but his shakiness seemed to ebb. "Thought I was imagining it."

Jake gave a breathy laugh, leaning down to press his forehead to CC's. "I didn't even know it was you. It's been so long. You're all beat up. I..." He trailed off.

"You thought I was dead."

The Mourner's eyes squeezed shut. "I'm sorry. I saw what they did..."

CC reached a hand up to trace callused, bony fingers over Jake's face. "You missed the best part. I killed him, you know."

Jake pulled back and studied his companion's eyes. "You did that?"

CC nodded. "I just reached in and squeezed until he collapsed. I still have his heart somewhere. One of the Mystics shrunk it down and bottled it for me."

"You did that for me?"

It was a dry joke the two had shared, years ago. CC had always said if he got the chance, he would rip out Master Gallahan's heart. Especially after all the times he used the two against each other. While they both had had quite the test of wills when it came to torture as teenagers, Master Gallahan quickly learned that Jake would give in the moment he heard CC crying in pain, and vise versa.

That had been what fucked over their chance at escape. Jake had been caught trying to make his way to the rendezvous point. When Master Gallahan just skipped straight to his electric pulse gun, and Jake had crumpled with a cry of pain, CC had rushed from his hiding place. He had fought against Master Gallahan, insisting Jake run for it.

Jake had screamed, no! Over and over. He didn't want to leave him. But Sandra had grabbed his arm and dragged him away, insisting she'd return. CC had believed her. Master Gallahan had been distracted by his asset fleeing, and CC had taken advantage of that. Just reached in and ripped out Master Gallahan's heart just as a knife had found its way into his side.

He spent time in the infirmary, and as soon as he was declared fit to work again, his nights were filled with tortures. The new master, Fortiscue, had been even more cruel, and insistent on finding out exactly what happened to his predecessor and the Mourner that got away.

"I always knew I'd see you again," CC whispered.

Jake gave a soft smile. He didn't know how to reply. He didn't know how to tell his long lost love that he had given up so long ago. He settled for doing what he had wanted since he was 17. He leaned in and captured swollen, bruised lips with his own and fisted his hand in tangled black hair. He felt something rise up in him that he'd never thought he'd experience. It was like his soul had finally found its place: right here in the arms of the boy who never stopped believing.


	10. Part 10

"So what do you think, J?" Ashley clapped a hand to Jinxx's shoulder.

The Mystic surveyed the women before him. Certainly all of them were beautiful. He shrugged. "I'm not sure. May I feel them?"

The Deviant gave a half smile. "Of course," he said with a nod.

Kina sighed. "This bores me. I'm going shopping." She planted a kiss on Ashley's cheek and skipped off, deeper into the slave keep.

The blond boy, Fortiscue's son, raised his eyebrows. "High maintenance?"

"You have no idea," Ashley responded with a slight shake of his head. "Worth it, though. Gods, she's so worth it."

Jinxx seemed to float off the ground for a moment.

"What do you see, J?"

The Mystic shook his head. "I...I don't see her. But I can feel her. She feels so..."

Ashley turned to their host. "Where are the others? Do you have any that aren't quite of age yet, but almost? Maybe a year out from adulthood?"

"Just this way," the blond responded, motioning for them to follow.

Ashley knew what his friend had felt the moment he laid eyes on her. It wasn't her petite silhouette. It wasn't her pointed nose or black ringlets. It was her brilliant blue eyes. They were Sammi's eyes.

Jinxx bolted forward before Ashley could command him not to. He fell to his knees at her feet, reaching for her hands and kissing slim wrists.

"We'll take her," Ashley said with a gentle smile.

"Sara? Sara listen to me," Jinxx started in hushed tones.

The girl fell to her knees to be face to face with the Mystic. "Y-you know my name."

Jinxx nodded. "Yes. I'm a Mystic. I'm married to your sister, Samantha."

"Dolly?"

The Mystic laughed. "Yeah, SammiDoll. I'm Jeremy, but your sister, and everyone really, calls me Jinxx."

"What's he saying to her?" Asked the blond.

Ashley shrugged. "J has always been rather adept at getting new servants settled in. He's probably just explaining the situation.

"I don't understand. Why are you cuffed?" Sara asked, eyes wide with concern.

"You see that vampire over there? With all the tattoos? That's my friend, Ashley. We came in here to find our friend, Sandra. When I felt you, I knew we had to get you too. Your energy is so much like my Sammi's."

The girl nodded, hesitantly. "I heard Master Fortiscue talking about torturing someone called Sandra."

Jinxx smiled. "Atta girl. Alright, I need you to take my hand and walk with me. Whatever you do, do not let go of my hand."

Sara nodded, lacing her fingers with her brother in law.

"This the one, J?

Jinxx nodded with a brilliant grin. "She's perfect, sir."

Ashley tossed a bag of gold coins at the blond boy, then pulled a pair of onyx set cuffs and collar from his coat pocket. "I'm gonna put these on you, okay?

Sara looked at Jinxx with wide, scared eyes. The Mystic gave her a nod of encouragement. Then the magic chains were clasped around her wrists and neck.

It was that moment that Kina reappeared. She had Sandra in her arms and was struggling with the weight.

"You're not who you say you are," the blond shouted. "Thieves!"

Without thinking, Jinxx shot a fist full of compressed air at the boy, shoving him into the wall some ways away.

"Sandra, babe, wake up," Ashley begged.

An eye cracked open.

Then Jinxx collapsed at Ashley's feet, Sara having knocked him out.

"I'm sorry I couldn't...they made me!" Her blue eyes were wide with fear.

Ashley nodded slowly. "Sleep," he commanded. The girl was rendered unconscious, Ashley catching her as she fell.

"Sandra, do you think you can help me with Jinxx?"

The half blood gave a weak nod.

"Good. Kina, get the girl. She's Sammi's little sister."

In a half second, Kina had the tiny Luminescent draped over her arms. "Go. I'll take up the back."

Ashley nodded and pulled Jinxx's arm over his shoulder, watching apprehensively as Sandra did the same. "Run!"

Sandra coughed a bit, but started off to the left. "There's a closed off tunnel this way. Some of the others use it to escape."

Ashley just nodded and did his best to support Jinxx's weight as Sandra led them out of the old mansion.


	11. Part 11

Sammi got the message first. She had been pacing up and down the hallway outside the infirmary for hours. She could feel something was wrong. Then the phone on the wall had rung.

"Whomever is there, we need retrieval at the southwest corner of the LaRoux Estate. We have three injured; an adult Mystic, an adolescent Luminescent, and an adult half blood vampiress. We may have been followed." Click!

It had been Ashley's voice.

Sammi took off for the front doors. She knew the message would have also been received by an official, but that was her husband. She threw herself into the driver's seat of a van and started it, taking off as fast as she could. She silently prayed she'd get there in time.

When she pulled up to the edge of the estate, she didn't see anything except an old tool shed. She was debating whether to make a loop around the estate or just stay put when she saw what looked like Sandra barreling across the yard.

Sammi leaped up and threw the side door open. "Come on, quick! Backup is behind me."

Sandra pulled herself in and promptly collapsed into the seat.

Sammi just eased herself back into the driver's seat and waited.

Next she saw Ashley, half carrying her Jinxx. The Vampire lifted him into the van, then turned and took off back where he'd come.

Sammi froze. Kina was climbing into the van carrying someone she thought she'd never see again. "Sara?"

"Yes," Jinxx groaned. "Worry later. Right now, drive! Go!"

"But Ash-"

"Is fighting." Kina interrupted. "We were followed. Just drive. He'll catch up. He can fly. They can't."

Sammi nodded and floored the gas pedal. "Kina, open up the moon roof so he can get in."

The vampiress nodded and reached up for the small window. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ashe in a full blown fist fight with some rather large looking men. Then his wings flared out behind him.

The Deviant dug the claw of his wing into flesh. At this point, he didn't care what or who he was harming. His people were safe. Now he just needed to focus on getting home to his Andy. He spun around, quick, and flung himself feet first toward one of the guards, wings tucked tight to his back. The impact on the guard's chest was enough to spring him into the air. His wings snapped out to either side, and he was aloft.

Ashley looked around, hurriedly. He spotted the van a few blocks down the street and angled himself perpendicular to them. If he guessed Sammi's route just right, he could land on top of the vehicle.

"Apply pressure," Kina yelled at Jinxx. The Mystic had already set to work on Sandra's wounds. They didn't look good.

"The fuck does it look like I'm doing? There are too many and my magic is restricted."

Sammi winced. She hated the thought of her husband chained like that. But she had more important things to worry about. "Do you see him?"

Kina scanned the horizon. "No, I'm sorry. I lost him on that turn. Just keep going."

Sammi pulled another sharp turn down a one way road. Just a little further and they'd be out of the city

"Wait, there he is. Slow down slow down!"

There was a loud thud as Ashley dropped through the sky light into the van. "Hiya!"

"Shut up and help!" Kina yelled.

Ashley looked around at the chaos that was the back of the van. "Okay yeah," he said, dropping to his knees beside Jinxx. "Right hand."

The Mystic made sure to get a good grip on the cloth he was using to hold Sandra's wound, then lifted his right hand. Ashley made quick work of the cuff, then the other one and the collar, tossing them into the corner in disgust.

"We are going to have a very long talk aboutyour bright ideas when we get back to the healers mansion."

"Yes ma'am," he responded. Then he reached for the girl, removing her cuffs and shaking her awake. "Hey, little one, wake up. Come on."

Sara's eyes widened in fright at Ashley. "No! Get away!" The girl kicked as she screached.

"Sara!"

The girl froze.

"Sara LeAnn!"

"Dolly?"

"Yes, Bunny, it's me. Now please stop fighting Ash. His mate will be annoyed if I return him damaged."

Sara was still for a long moment, and then nodded. "Sorry."

Ashley smiled. "It's alright, little one."

"We're here," Sammi announced, throwing the van into park and jumping out.

Ashley jumpped as the door slid open. "Andy!" he called in excitement. Then he was being dragged out by the collar of his shirt.

"You son of a bitch!" Andy yelled, dropping to his knees and swinging his fist into Ashley's jaw. "You. Absolute. Horrid. Fucking. Cheat." With each word, his fist made contact with some part of Ashley. "I give you EVERYTHING and you just throw it away the second some pretty blonde High Line princess with big tits comes along!"

"Andy! Andy, that's enough!" Sammi grabbed the singer's shirt and hauled him backwards. "That's enough!"

"How dare you! How fucking dare you!" Andy struggled against Sammi's grasp as another pair of stronger arms wrapped around his torso.

"I don't know what you saw, but beating up your mate isn't going to solve anything," came Jake's voice from behind Andy.

Kina emerged from the other side of the van carrying Sandra.

"You!" Andy growled, lunging forward with as much of his upper body as he could.

The blonde took a step back.

"Andy, enough!" Ashley yelled, standing despite the beating. He reached forward, ignoring Andy's scratching at his arms, and fisted his hands in thick black hair. "Enough. Nothing happened. I'm all yours. I promised. See?" He nudged Andy's head towards the scar on his wrist. "I belong to you. No one else."

Andy relaxed. Then the gears clicked around. "Sandra!" He whipped around out of Ashley and Jake's grips. "Where did she go?"

Jake firmly gripped the prophet's arm. "Inside. I suggest we get the others there too."

When Ashley and Andy turned around, they found Sandra lifting the too slim figure of her little sister into her arms. "Quit standing around and get my husband inside," she snipped, hurrying for the door.

Ashley reached out to grasp Jinxx's forearm, wincing as the effort to pull the Mystic to his feet strained at his bruised ribs. Vampire strength was nothing in comparison to the wrath of his mate.

Andy crossed his arms as Jake and Ashley dragged their guitarist inside. "I'm not done with you," he snapped.

Ashley grinned. "Well I'd expect not. I do have a lot to expla-"

And then he collapsed.


	12. Part 12

Andy settled softly into the bed next to his mate. Angry or not, he loved Ashley. Seeing him unconscious like this was unnerving.

"Sir? We have the results back."

The human sighed. "For the last time, please just use my name. Just because I'm a prophet doesn't mean I need special treatment. Besides. I'm hardly old enough to be a 'sir.'"

The Mystic nodded. "It was a slow acting poison. He must have come in contact with it about three days ago, and continuously since then."

Understanding flickered in Andy's eyes. "They've been poisoning him since he arrived?"

The Mystic nodded.

Andy thought for a long moment. "You should test Kina for the poison as well. It's likely she shared whatever poisoned him."

The Mystic nodded and crossed the room to the vampiress.

"I didn't sleep with him, just so you know." Her voice was matter of fact, but not unkind.

Andy glared. Logically, he was aware of this. But he was angry. She had been the one by his side. "Why is it when everything falls apart, he turns to you and not me?"

Kina thought for a long moment. "I am truly sorry you see it that way."

"It's not fair!" He threw his pen against the wall.

The Voltair princess gave a soft smile. "No. You're right. There is nothing fair about it. But perhaps talking to me would put things into perspective?"

Andy growled a bit. He didn't want to play nice, but logic insisted it was not in his best interest to piss off a high line of any flavor, especially not one of royal blood. He nodded. "I'm not made of glass, you know?"

"We all know that, Andy," the blonde insisted with a soft smile. "But Ashley is Deviant. He'll do anything to protect the man he loves. He always has."

Andy cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

She laughed a bit, raising her eyebrows and casting her hair over her shoulder. "Ashley has loved you and protected you since the day he met you. So much that he protected you from himself. For YEARS. I'm not saying what he did was right. But I do understand it."

Andy sighed. "Did you know, when you were with him before?"

There was a long moment of silence as Kina weighed her options. Finally, she just decided on telling him all of it. "Yes. I did. Because he told me, before we were even together." She sighed and settled into the chair next to Andy. "I have known your mate for many, many years. Since childhood. There had been talk of my grandfather arranging my mating to him since I was three, and Ashley was almost five. We were very close. But I learned pretty quickly that a union I had no say in was not what I wanted for my future. As much as I adore Ashley, I could never bring myself to love him like that."

Andy felt a new wave of jealousy rise up inside him. The idea of his Ashley mated to someone else in this alternate timeline where they likely would never have met was unnerving. "Why," was all he could manage.

Kina shrugged. "When I was 14, Sandra came to live with Ashley. I found I was far more interested in her than him."

"You're a porn star. You have sex with men for a living."

The woman laughed. "I do, yes. And because of that, I think, I gravitate more towards women in my personal life."

"But you dated Ashley anyways?"

Another long silence permeated the air as a healer pressed a wooden needle to Kina's arm and drew blood.

"Ashley called me, somewhere in the middle of his first tour with you. He...was afraid of himself. I was his best friend, Andy. We knew each other from childhood. No one knew him better." She sighed, not making eye contact with Andy. "He thought that going through with our arranged union would protect you from him. He didn't want to upset your world."

"But he didn't..."

A slow inhale and exhale. "He almost did. I wouldn't let him. I know the value of finding a mate. I had found mine at 16. But she was too young to have found me yet. And then I got shipped off to the Canidae for defying my grandfather and not wanting to be mated to Ashley. I would never want to take that away from him."

Andy replayed that in his head a few times. "But your record says you are not mated."

"No," she smiled sadly. "I am not. I don't want to hurt Ashley. And I don't want to hurt her."

It was Andy's turn to laugh. It was a loud, almost maniacal laughter that caused Sammi and Jake to jump where they were sitting on the other side of the infirmary.

"What?" Kina demanded.

Andy shook his head, trying to calm his laughter. "It's just-" he wheezed. "Isn't that exactly what Ashley thought?"

Kina chuckled a little bit. "I suppose. But I...I don't know how I will be able to live if I am rejected." she said.

"You won't be," Andy blurted. He hadn't meant to say it. But he just knew. "Not in the long run, anyway."

One pencil thin eyebrow raised up Kina's face. "I will just have to take your word on that, then."

Andy nodded and chewed on a lower lip. After another moment of heavy silence, he asked, "Did you have sex with him?"

"Yes," she immediately answered. "Twice. The first time, we were teenagers. We," she laughed a bit. "We broke into his dad's liquor cabinet and got drunk and had sex on his basement couch with Star Trek playing on the tv in the background."

Andy couldn't help but smile at the thought. He distinctly remembered a time in high school when he and Scout had shared half a bottle of Jack and binge watched the Lord of the Rings trillogy. It was a good memory, even if Scout had broken his heart in the end.

"And the second time?" Andy prompted.

A sadness filled Kina's eyes. "He made the mistake of wearing one of your shirts to a Voltair gathering. He smelled like you, and the pureblood high line stuckups didn't like it. I was afraid we would be exposed. We...conveniently left the door slightly open. He smelled like you..."

Andy could hear the guilt in her voice. "It was a matter of his life." From what he knew of the Voltair King, Ashley likely would have been put to death for his unfaithfulness. Kina's grandfather was notoriously cruel and ruthless. "I understand."

Kina leaned forward to place a slim hand on Andy's arm. "Ashley was, and still is, one of my dearest friends. I would never wish to bring him or his mate any pain."

"You should talk to Sandra, when she wakes up," he blurted.

Shock flickered through Kina's eyes. "How did you know?"

Andy laughed. "I have eyes. And I have visions. I can put two and two together."

Kina nodded. "Does that mean..."

"You have my blessing. But you'll have to handle Ashley, yourself."


	13. Part 13

"Jacob! Jacob, no!"

The Mourner startled, cards falling from his hands and cascading across the infirmary floor under the beds. "Christian," he responded in an uncharacteristically clear voice.

"No no no no no!" The younger man was shaking, curling in on himself in a rather vivid nightmare. "Please, just stop. I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Just stop!"

"Christian, love," Jake tried again, brushing a hand through soft black hair. "Baby I'm right here. I'm okay. Come on. Come back to me."

The screaming continued as CC shook and cried and thrashed in the bed. Finally, Jake decided it was way past keeping this a secret, and lifted up the bedcovers, stepping out of his shoes as he climbed in beside CC. He wound strong arms around a too slim torso, pulling the man in tight against his chest and folding his legs between long skinny ones. Then he burried his face in that mess of hair and began singing softly into his lover's ear.

It wasn't the yelling, nor Jake's stern voice that caused Andy's head to snap up. It was the song their Mourner had begun singing in a broken, off key croon.

I was one. Then met two. Now we're three. My darlin' darlin' darlin'

It was an old Celtic dialect no one even spoke anymore. But clearly this song had survived amongst the slaves. Likely introduced by a Kelpie or Siren along the way.

Andy walked over quietly and added his voice in.

"Ná caoin, mo ghráín. Cuachfaidh mé le m' ucht thú féin chun maidin"

As the song neared its end, CC's eyes slowly opened. He startled at the sight of Andy standing over the bed.

"Shh. Shh baby. I'm right here." Jake shifted to hover over CC, blocking his line of sight as he fisted hands in the hair on either side of the younger man's face. "Look at me. Look at me, Christian."

Rich brown eyes gazed back in fear. Finally, "is he one of us?"

A sad smile painted Andy's features. "No. I am not. But I am well versed in empowered beings and creatures. To my knowledge, that is a Siren Song. I have read it before, the remnants of a melody echoing hauntingly from an ancient book. But I had no idea anyone alive still knew it."

CC sat up a bit, still cradled in Jake's arms. "The women used to sing it when they would tend our whipping wounds. It helped us sleep through the pain."

"Sandra should, perhaps, expand her research on the types of beings traded in the underground slavers' market. It troubles me that it is so diverse." The Prophet settled into the chair. "I'm Andy, by the way. Empowered human."

"CC," the other man responded. "I, uh, don't really know what I am. They mostly referred to me as "it" or "the dangerous one."

Andy just nodded. "According to the healers, you're an empowered human of some flavor. At least, your blood tested to have human antigens."

CC nodded. "Thank you. Now I know I am at least human."

The Prophet gave a soft smile. "The rest, we will have more than enough time to figure out once you've healed and we've gotten all the vampire poison out of your blood."

Jake raised his eyebrow. "Did you...uhh...Jinxx and the girl..."

Understanding flickered in Andy's eyes. "You think we should test their blood for the poison, too? Curious..." Then Andy was up and running for the library again.

Jake just sighed and cuddled CC closer. Whatever brainstorm the Prophet had had, he wasn't sharing with the class.

Andy surged into the library and shoved the books on empowered humans he'd been reading off a table. "Maps! I need maps!" He hurriedly grabbed for a blank notebook and a pen.

The books he'd shoved away floated lightly into a neat stack beside the table, just as numerous large rolls of parchment toppled over Andy's head.

He growled in annoyance as he gathered up the maps, checking the small tags that hung from their binding ribbons. He singled out more recent maps as well as historical ones that depicted foliage, mineral veins, and water systems for the area.

"Books. Uh, slow acting toxins. Vampire."

He began unfurling the maps, locating the old mansion and pinning the paper down with the edges of open books. Flicking through the old pages, Andy managed to find a list of toxins only harmful to vampires.

"No, can't be that. It would become innate in someone else's blood."

The book snapped shut in his face and floated off as if offended.

"What's this? Triphalpod?"

Three rather large dichotomy books came soaring from a shelf, flipping open to detailed diagrams and descriptions of a bright orange mushroom.

Andy hummed in curiosity as he trailed his finger over tightly spaced words. "Only hazardous when mixed with zinc?"

A periodic table as big as he was fluttered from its place on the wall.

"I know what zinc is!" Andy shouted. The poster made a loud snapping sound as it whipped around and returned to its wall.

"Okay, so this orange fungus thing grows here." His finger rested near a creek that ran through the woods on the east side of the LaRoux estate. He grabbed a red sticky note and pressed it to the spot on that map so he could find it again. Then he lunged for the mineral map and began searching for zinc deposits. After a solid half hour, he concluded there weren't any, and flopped into a chair in defeat.

The mineral map snapped itself closed in defiance.

"Well, do you have any ideas, then?" he demanded, feeling somewhat foolish for arguing with a room.

A different roll of parchment fell on Andy's head. He snatched it up from the floor and read the tag. "LaRoux mansion blueprint, 1939" Just as he pulled the ribbon to open the parchment, two more rolls fell on his head. He examined their tags to find they were updated blueprints from 1974 and then 1998. Just as he got the three maps rolled out, the library dropped a rather large book on the table in the center of the oldest map. "Plumbing through the ages."

"Yeah, okay, that's so helpful."

The book lifted up and thumped down onto the table again, this time on its spine so it fell open. The page it showed was a chart of pipe metals by region for the years 1930-1940.

"I see where you're going with this," Andy murmured to the library, picking up his pen and scribbling away with renewed fervor.


	14. Part 14

"Guys, I've got it!" Andy yelled, bursting through the doors of the infirmary. There was a series of thuds and crinkling sounds as some of the books and rolls of parchment fell from his arms.

There was an irritated groan as Jinxx attempted to push himself to sitting. The world spun, and Sammi's hand on his shoulder, pressing him back against a mountain of pillows, was the only thing keeping him conscious.

Andy looked around, frantically, and then dumped his armful into the nearest empty bed, spinning on a heel to retrieve the dropped items. "Okay guys, whomever can, get over here. This is important."

Sammi stood and pushed Jinxx's bed across to press against the one Andy had commandeered. Kina got up from Sandra's side to hang over the Luminescent's shoulder. Jake helped CC to the chair beside Andy, settling him before taking up the space on the Prophet's other side.

"Uhh, Jinxx? Man I know you're about flattened but I think we could tell Kina and CC what's going on?"

Jinxx stared, then nodded softly, holding out a hand. When Andy had reached to grasp his forearm and leaned down over the Mystic, he softly murmured "unbound."

Andy nodded, curtly. "Alright before I start. I'm a Prophet."

CC just returned a board to the skull look.

"So that's how you knew what happened in there?" Kina resolved.

The Prophet smirked. "Yeah. I saw you climbing all over him. Excuse me for being possessive of my life mate."

"Now is not the time," Sammi cut in. "You had something to share?"

Andy swallowed hard and began unrolling maps and bluprints, flinging open marked pages of books, spreading out loose bits of paper and post it notes, and flipping through one of the obnoxiously patterned composition books he always kept at hand. "Okay, look here. This," he pointed at a botanist illustration of some weird orange mushrooms, "is a fungus knows as triphalpod. On its own? Completely benign. But when it comes in contact with zinc at a 1:8 ratio, minimum, it becomes toxic to vampires. At a 1:38 ratio, the slightest bit of contact becomes fatal. As high as 1:10, it can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for symptoms to show, depending on how much is ingested or touched."

"One to eight? That's a lot of zinc..." Jinxx mused.

Andy nodded. "Exactly. And the rate of symptoms is also dependent on how quickly a vampire's body processes zinc. Some filter it faster, meaning it takes more of the stuff to actually effect them." He slammed the book shut, using it to weigh down the edge of a map.

"See here? This is the creek that runs through the LaRoux estate. It, and the water table underneath it, are the main source of water for the whole grounds. Now, upstream here is a massive triphalpod organism. I mean, huge. Enough to cause runoff into the creek."

"What about the zinc?" Kina asked, leaning over the end of the bed for a closer look.

Andy nodded curtly as he reached for some more rolled parchment. "That's what these are. Plumbing blueprints for the mansion. Here's the originals. The spots tagged blue still use the original copper and lead plumbing. Then here," He rolled out another map directly on top of the first. "These are the first plumbing updates from the 70s, that had Zinc in them. The parts marked red were never updated." He unrolled another blueprint. "This is the 90s update. See? They never touched this eastern side of the servants corridors. That part of the estate had officially been closed off."

"Unofficially?" Sammi hazarded.

Andy flipped open marked pages from a couple of the leather bound notebooks Sandra used for the official (legible) copies of her research. "From what Sandy's gathered, the slave market didn't move into the LaRoux mansion until the early 80s under a servant to the estate by the name of Gallahad Reinherst."

CC visibly flinched, Jake immediately dropping to his knees at the younger man's feet, hands easing comfortingly up slender thighs. "Hey, Christian, look at me. He's dead. He's gone."

CC whimpered.

Something flashed through Andy's eyes and he clung to the edge of the bed as a waking vision washed over him.

Andy tossed a leather wrapped baton in his hands, leering back at the men - boys, really - strapped to wooden Xs and facing each other.

"You were something to each other in there," Andy stated as the vision faded away. Even as he spoke, his hand was scribbling away in his vision journal.

Jake looked up at Andy for a brief second, then returned his attention to CC. "He's never gonna hurt us, ever again. You're safe, now. You're safe with me."

CC's hands found Jake's hair and pulled the Mourner in close so the older man's face was squashed into his stomach. Jake just nuzzled against the soft black t-shirt in response.

Andy dropped his pen onto the bed and turned to fully face the new member of their group. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to CC's, forcing the man's full attention. "You are one of us now," he spoke softly. "We protect our own."

The words seemed to carry more weight than anything else could, because CC nodded, and then, "I never have to go back."

It was a statement. A glimmer of understanding. Acceptance, even.

Andy lightly cupped a hand at CC's jaw before pulling away. "That same servant happened to be head of renovations at the time. Here's a copy of his official work ledger. He's the one who closed the east side servant corridor."

Jinxx picked up the book on plumbing. "But new pipes gave zinc too," he murmured.

Andy leaned over his shoulder to read for a moment. "Yeah, but only about 1/3 the amount in the old plumbing. There wasn't enough to react with the triphalpod. Uh...here. Math." He shoved a scrap of paper into the Mystic's hand.

"You did math?" Jinxx asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

The singer shrugged. "The library helped."

There was a deep, ringing laugh. "So you're actually getting along with the library, now?" Sammi managed between her giggles that mixed with her husband's laughter.

Andy scowled. "No, see. The library and me will only get along when it stops dropping scrolls and books on my head."

"Then perhaps," Jinxx started, passing back the book and scratch paper, "you should stop abusing the books when they don't give you the answers you want."

"Look, that's not the point," Andy interjected. "The point is, we have proof. The poisoning was on purpose. Maybe not initially back in the 70s. But I guarantee you this Reinherst bastard knew it was a problem when the renovations in the 90s began. He would have left it like that on purpose."

Kina bit her lower lip. "But some of his best customers were vampires, especially my family..."

"And I bet any time your grandfather came in, they gave him whatever he wanted and got him out of there within two days."

There was an awkward silence. "Yeah, you're right," Kina said softly. "Oh my gods, you're right!"

"Uh, not to play the idiot here, but why would it matter how long he was there?" Jake asked.

"Because," Andy started, "it takes at least three days of repeated exposure for the toxin, at this low level, to actually cause any symptoms. If he went in, only spent one night, and was out by the next day, he never would have had enough contact with the stuff to actually cause harm. His body would have naturally flushed out the toxin with minimal, if any, repercussions within a week."

"Wait." The gears seemed to click around in Kina's mind. "If we can prove this toxin is in my blood, on purpose, we could potentially turn the last handful of high lines that still keep slaves against the organization."

"Vampires are, like, 70% of the organization's income. We could bankrupt the whole operation!" Andy yelled excitedly. He lunged across the bed to pull Kina in for a celebratory hug and a quick kiss.

And that's what Ashley woke up to.


	15. Part 15

No, not the pain, Sandra thought. She wanted to cling to the warm, floaty feeling of nonexistence a few minutes longer. She wanted to stay where she could drown herself in fantasy of white blonde hair tickling her skin as plush lips worked their way downward.

But there was yelling. So much yelling. So loud.

Then there was white hot pain lacing her back in overlapping stripes. There was a pulsing in her temple, and a high pitched whine as her ears attempted to adjust to the real world. Her brain scrambled dizzily, trying to make the loud shouts into intelligible words.

"Guys, shut up!"

That was Kina's voice. So beautiful. It sounded like music. No wonder Ashley had liked her so much. ASHLEY! Sandra's eyes flew open.

Strands of pale hair danced in Sandra's line of vision. Big blue eyes stared down in concern. "Hey there, sweetheart, you're okay."

Violins. No, an entire string orchestra. That's what she sounded like.

"Oh! Look who's back with us!"

"A-Ash..." Okay, speaking hurt. To be fair, everything hurt.

"San, baby, hey. What do you need?"

That impossibly deep voice could only belong to Andy.

"Blood," she ground out.

Then there was a wrist firmly under her lips. She just dropped her fangs and took a few slow gulps. The heat of Andy's blood soothed her raw throat. It also seemed to jump start her healing process, because everything seemed to hurt less.

"That should get you started. A healer will bring in something fresh from a kill in a little bit." That deep voice of Andy's always seemed to make things a bit more okay.

Then a wave of that smell hit her again. Sweet and intoxicating. It made her need. She groaned in pleasure, inhaling deeply.

"Yeah, you're a little beat up," came Kina's pithy comment.

"A little?" was Andy's retort.

Sandra just released a frustrated sob. Her head hurt and they were LOUD.

"Guys, keep it down." That was Ashley's voice again. He sounded close, but not sitting on the edge of her bed and hovering, close. Which was weird, considering her deviant cousin was always a hovering mess any time one of them was hurt. Which suggested things she really didn't want to think about. Either someone else was hurt worse, or the pureblood had been hurt, himself.

"S'okay," Sandra murmured. "Jus a headache." She could distantly tell her words were slurring. Though, whether from medications or pain, she wasn't sure.

"What were you yelling about?"

The silence that met her was disconcerting.

"Come on, you assholes can't wake me up yelling and not tell me what's going on."

She was feeling better. Sure, her back still hurt. But if she kept her eyes closed her head didn't hurt so much.

"Andy kissed Kina."

It was Jinxx's matter of fact tone this time.

"It - it was nothing. A celebratory peck, really. It didn't mean anything."

Sandra wasn't sure if she had the right to feel hurt. She certainly didn't like the defensiveness in Kina's voice.

"Yeah, well she kissed Ashley. Like, a lot. And it certainly looked like it meant something. Climbed up in his arms and everything."

There was a note of bitterness in the deep velvet of Andy's voice.

Ashley scoffed. "Come on, Andy, you know that wasn't real. We were putting on a show."

"He's right," insisted Kina's lilting voice. "There's very little we wouldn't do to ensure Sandra's safety."

Then the overlapping yelling began again. But Sandra didn't notice. She was suddenly swept away in a wave of jealousy. She didn't like the idea of Kina in Ashley's arms like that. Kina was hers. Not that she could ever lay that claim.

She groaned again. Why couldn't anything be easy?

"Guys! Guys! We're being too loud!" Andy shouted.

The pounding in her temple seemed to worsen, though whether from frustration or all the yelling, she wasn't sure. "Everything hurts."

"Yeah, poison will do that," Andy responded, lightly brushing her thick dark hair from her face.

"Poison?"

"Triphalpod and zinc. But don't worry. We know how to shut the bitch down."

Sandra just hummed in acknowledgement. For now, at least, she was willing to sink into the half dreams spurred on by the intoxicating bouquet of coffee and shea butter and Dior perfume that was Kina.


	16. Part 16

Recovery. Andy was beginning to hate that word. It meant sitting and waiting and hoping that his loved ones would wake up. Hoping the next time Ashley tried to stand up, he didn't immediately black out. Hoping they could get enough blood into Sandra for her wounds to heal. Hoping Sammi's little sister would actually survive.

CC was, at least, up and walking around, if not to a limited extent. The healers had agreed to move him to a private room. Or rather, they got tired of Jake kissing the poor kid breathless every time he woke up screaming. Sleeping next to the Mourner seemed to help both men with the nightmares. At least, Andy thought, there was at least one good thing to come out of this mess.

Jinxx, as it turns out, had just been exhausted. 16 hours of sleep the past few days seemed to be all the Mystic had needed. Now, he and Sammi took turns sitting at Sara's bedside. The healers suspected that the abrupt removal of slave bonds had damaged her spirit. The only thing that could heal her, now, was time.

A physical look over her body had suggested some things Andy really didn't want to think about. There was a chance surgery would be necessary if she was to ever bear children. Her arm was currently in a cast. The healers had been left no option but to rebreak the bone so it could be set properly and heal in a way she could actually use.

The poison in Sandra's and Ashley's systems was still slowly being filtered out. Andy rarely left the space between the two beds. A few of the younger Majik children had been assigned to making sure he had whatever library resources he desired. He tried to mostly ignore their hovering.

Every so often, Ashley or Sandra would wake up. They would be conscious long enough to drink a few cups of blood, and maybe have some scraps of conversation, before passing out again.

But, he supposed, that was recovery.

A familiar sound dragged Andy up from his reading. He glanced at Sandra's bed. She was there, fast asleep. Kina was in the chair beside her, arms folded on the edge of the mattress, cradling her head as she slept, as well.

Andy narrowed his eyes and slowly stood, placing his book open side down on his chair. Then he started in the direction of the music.

"Sir, is there anything..."

The Prophet just waved the girl off and kept walking as if in a trance. He followed the sound down a corridor and into the room Jake and CC had temporarily moved into.

"What are you doing with those?" Andy demanded.

CC was settled behind Sandra's drum kit. He had abruptly stopped playing when Andy walked in, and the ride cymbal still vibrated it's shaking crash through the air.

Jake hopped up from the bed to face Andy. "He wanted to play. I didn't see the harm..."

"Get out!" Andy yelled. "Those aren't yours! Get out of there!"

Fear and shock painted CC's features. He stayed frozen behind the kit.

"Are you deaf?" Andy roared, lunging forward, only to be stopped by Jake's arm across his chest. "I said get out of there! Don't touch those!"

"Wha's going on?" came a familiar, if groggy voice.

"He - He's playing Sandra's drums! He can't - no one is supposed to touch them! You know she hates it!"

Ashley straightened up. "Hey, Andy, enough."

"Those aren't his. He can't have them! He can't-"

"Shhh, baby," Ashley whispered, holding his hands out toward his mate. "They're just drums."

Andy deflated, half collapsing in Jake's grasp. Then the tears started.

"Hey, it's okay," Ashley murmured, pulling the singer into his chest and falling onto the bed in a single motion. "It's okay. Why don't you tell me what's really got you so scared?"

Jake hurried around the drum kit to where CC was shaking, hands clenching tightly around drum sticks.

"What is it, Andy," Ashley repeated, softly.

"They're Sandy's," the singer insisted.

Ashley gave a wan smile. "I see," he murmured, brushing a hand through flyaway black hair. "You know Sandra. She's stronger than all us guys put together."

"But she's not okay, Ashley. She's ALWAYS okay..."

The vampire shushed his mate again, arms wrapping comdortingly around slim shoulders. "She will heal, just give her time. I promise you, a couple months and she'll be right back in that kit trying to learn a new combination."

Andy nodded against Ashley's chest.

"And no one can replace her, Andy. You know that. But the kid is talented, and those are the only drums at our disposal right now. Let him play. Let him learn. What can it hurt?"

Andy was quiet for a long moment. He wanted a pithy comment. He wished Ashley wasn't right, this time. "I suppose it can't hurt any," he sighed.

"Exactly," Ashley whispered. He nuzzled into Andy's neck, inhaling in the way that told Andy he was looking for a little nip.

The human just tangled a hand in his mate's thick hair, pulling him in closer. Then there were sharp fangs digging into his throat and Andy was arching and moaning in Ashley's arms.

"There you are," came the chiding voice of a nurse. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Ashley looked up at the Luminescent, cheeks flushed a bit red. "I woke up and he was gone. And then I heard him yelling..."

The woman gave a gentle smile and lightly motioned for one of the Mystics to come in and help Andy get the litrle deviant back to bed.

"A few more days," she started, tucking soft blankets back around Ashley, "and we can move you to a private room."

Ashley grinned. A private room meant sex.

"You'll be able to feed and purge in private. But nothing more than a little light fooling around until you're strong enough to not pass out in the middle." Her voice was chiding, but with a note of humor. "The less of your sex life we are aware of, Deviant, the better."

Andy chuckled as he climbed into the bed beside Ashley. He nuzzled his head up under his mate's chin, tucking his body firmly into Ashley's side and draping a long arm and leg across the vampire, essentially trapping him in the bed.

Ashley just smiled into the singer's hair and pulled him close before falling asleep again.


	17. Part 17

"Please just...just let me go. All of you." Sandra sighed. She needed space to heal. And she needed space to think.

"Sandy, please!" Andy whined.

The half blood huffed. "Look, apparently my injuries are far worse than we originally thought. Some...some of it cuts to the bone. The healers want to move me to the main house in Russia where a specialist can rebuild the muscle."

"Then let some of us come with you," Ashley insisted.

"You have the band. There's a tour starting in, what, six weeks? I won't be healed enough to drum for at least 3 more months."

"Then we postpone the tour. Or cancel a few shows. Come on, we can't play without you."

Sandra hated when Andy used that pleading tone. She pointedly looked away. "Can't CC play?"

"Well, yeah," Ashley started. "But he's not you."

The halfblood smiled, softly. "No one is me. You'll be hard pressed to find a drummer who can pull off that quad hit in We Stitch These Wounds. But the kid is good, and he's learning fast. Give him a chance to actually be a person."

Andy sighed. "But you'll come back, right?"

Sandra was quiet for a long moment. "I...I don't know. Andy, I may never drum again."

The silence that fell over the infirmary was sharp, lancing. No one really knew what to say. What COULD they say? Sandra had sacrificed everything.

"I'm sorry." CC was the first one to talk.

Sandra made a point of catching his eye. "You made your sacrifice years ago when you held Reinherst back so Jake and I could get away."

CC's head raised slightly, caught somewhere between fear and pride as he swallowed hard.

"I fulfilled my promise," Sandra continued. "I came back for you. I've made my sacrifce."

"But-" CC started.

"I would gladly do it again." The vampiress winced as she leaned forward a bit. "I've had my moment of glory. It's time someone else got the chance to live."

Andy scoffed and abruptly stood. "You can't leave!" His tone was grasping, desperate. "You're the heartbeat of this band."

"No," Sandra started with a sigh. "No, I'm not. Ashley is the heartbeat of this band."

"Sandra!"

"You know I'm right. Andy, you designed this band around Ashley's style. You heard him take the bass line from Knives and Pens, double the reps on the chorus and completely refresh the sound. He's the heartbeat. You're the brain. I can be replaced."

Andy opened his mouth to argue, but Sandra held up a hand to stop him. "I didn't say easily, just that it could be done. Give the kid a chance. That's all I'm asking."

"Fine! But I don't have to like it." Andy dropped back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest in a pout. "And you have to let Kina accompany you to Russia."

Sandra's eyebrows shot up. "I have to, do I?"

The singer returned a rather smug smirk. "Yes. You have to. Because you won't let any of us come, and she's proven herself trustworthy to me."

"Why do I get the feeling you know something I don't?"

"Maybe you just don't know that you know."

Sandra growled. "You know I hate when you talk in riddles, Prophet."

Andy stuck out is tongue in a very childish manner. Then he stood.

"What if," Sandra started, causing Andy to pause. "What if I know, and I still don't want her to come with me?"

Without turning to face his sister at heart, he responded, "Then you're an idiot."

Sandra sighed as Andy walked away. She didn't want Kina to come. The whole situation was just a mess. She was Ashley's ex-fiancee, essentially. She was one of Sandra's best friends as a kid. She was a Voltaire princess, and frankly bonding to her was signing a death warrant. But really, Sandra realized, she didn't want the woman she had idolized since twelve years old to have to see her like this: beaten, broken, and facing the possibility of death.

If they mated, and then Sandra died, Kina wouldn't survive. She likely would storm, guns blazing, into an active slave den. It was suicide. Sandra had watched her mother go mad with grief when her father died. She couldn't do that to Kina. She wouldn't.


End file.
